A Moonlight Sonata
by Laureen Lycan
Summary: Percy has been working at the ministry for five years and his life seems perfect. That is, until he catches a glimpse of the girl in Hogwarts that was so much like him. He suddenly finds he has a hole in his life and he must go to all ends to find her ag
1. Default Chapter

Moonlight Sonata joe edgeworth Normal joe edgeworth 2 2 2001-10-02T03:16:00Z 2001-10-02T03:16:00Z 2 671 3829 31 7 4702 9.2720 

Moonlight Sonata

In a country named England, in a small wizarding village, in front of the main Ministry of Magic building, a grand clock struck twelve rumbling chords which rippled throughout the village, announcing that midnight had finally arrived and that all wizards and witches should be asleep at home amongst their loved ones and families. 

            A single office in the large building north of the clock was lit; a single ray of light amongst a vast ocean of dark, unlit stories of office windows.  Inside this office, Percy Weasley was sitting erect in his desk, in the very cluttered, very lonely-looking office which he called home.   Percy had been staring down his at his unfinished report of uneffective-wand-core-increase-rates for a little under an hour now, recalling a small part of his past.  Remembering a school he used to attend, recalling a year, a day, when he first met someone very much like himself, someone who, in time, reached out to him in need, in simple need, for friendship, and perhaps, he thought, as he now often thought, for something more than friendship.   

He shook his head slowly and ran a hand back along his slick, bright orange hair and opened a drawer in his desk, slipping the incomplete paper into it with a flutter and beginning to close the sliding compartment when he heard it--the beginning measure of a melody, of _the_ melody.  He paused and cocked his head to the side for just a moment as if to make sure he wasn't hearing things, then quite suddenly jumped to his feet, nearly toppling over the chair in process and after setting the chair down firmly with a "thunk", rushed to the doorway, his feet pounding against the hardwood floor as he ran through the empty white-washed hallway, panting as he flew down the oakwood stairs, his hand sliding down the polished chestnut banister, a look of desperation in his cool, blue eyes when he burst down into the second floor, not aware of where he was going, only thinking, no, only _knowing_ that he _must_ somehow get to the piano that was drumming forth the wondrous and strangely moving notes of "Moonlight Sonata" before it ended, for if it ended before he got there, she would be gone.  

Such thoughts went on in Percy's subconscious as he dashed through the undecorated, sparsely furnished corriders deep inside the main building of the Ministry of Magic where he worked.  He had caught only several notes, just a small portion of the first measure, but enough to send him running to his door to make sure he wasn't imagining it.  He had so often thought he had heard some of the measures and had frequently gone running downstairs toward the basement before he suddenly noticed that the playing had stopped, painful wrackings felt in his chest as he realized that he had only been imagining it.  

            But this wasn't how it was this time, Percy's mind assured him, for as he reached the bottom flight of stairs, the notes were highly distinguishable and the young man was certain that he wasn't simply imagining it. 

Now sweating and gasping for breath, the twenty-three year old reached for the cool brass doorknob leading to the basement and turned it, swinging the door open, but as he opened it, the melody suddenly ended and he found himself looking in upon a moon-lit room containing several boxes and one extremely secluded and extremely empty piano in a corner.  Percy's ice-blue gaze faltered a moment from behind his glasses and, letting his hand slide off the knob, felt it drop down to his side. 

 Slowly, very slowly as if in a trance, he walked over to the piano, his footsteps echoing inside the room, hands swinging slowly by his sides.  Stopping next to the cherry-wood bench, he lowered his eyes to the dust-covered keys, noticing that some of the dust had been cleared off the ends of them as having been played upon a very short time earlier.  He drew in a short breath and lowered his head and blinked once, two crystal droplets sliding down his cheeks and leaving their marks in the dust upon two of the piano keys that were draped by a single ray of moonlight.

He stood looking at the keys of the piano for quite a while until he heard the clock outside strike one and, Percy, he looked out the window and up at the moon, taking off his glasses and shutting his eyes, letting out a a low, choked, cry before collapsing onto his knees, his face in his hands, glasses dropped, neglected onto the floor beside him, crying out his internal grief and sorrow as the melody of Beethoven's _Moonlight Sonata_ played over in his mind as it had been for so many weeks since he caught a glimpse of his now-adult childhood soul mate.


	2. Kris Mimswell

Moonlight Sonata 

A/N: Percy Weasley belongs to J.K. Rowlings and Kristen Mimswell comes from my own imagination; and perhaps, even taken from a bit of my own personality.  Any relation Kristen has to any characters from any other material is purely coincidental, I can assure you.  Norkten academy is, to the extent of my knowledge, not from part of the Harry Potter series, nor for any other series as far as I'm concerned.  Once again, any relation Norkten or Kristen Mimswell have to any characters of any other series is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1 

Percy Weasley sat in the back of the train, in an empty compartment with the book of "Potions for the Fourth-Year Student", by Lillian Stirrings sitting open in his lap.  It was, indeed, his fourth year at Hogwarts and he had decided long before that he would devote his years in the school to being the top of  his class.  

            That part of his plan had work out quite nicely; unfortunately, in the midst and depth of his studying, he hadn't had time to devote to making friends or creating an image for himself.

            The compartment was made of a dark oakwood, with a dark crimson carpet on the floor that felt plush under his feet.  He pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose and turned the page, fixing the next with his frosty-blue gaze.  

            Despite the fact that the train wouldn't leave for another half hour, Percy had insisted on getting aboard the train early to get a well-placed compartment – what he hadn't mentioned was that his idea of a "well-placed compartment", was one isolated in the back, away from the incessive chatterings and laughter of the other students.  

            Shutting the book of potions, he raised his left wrist, checking the time.  Fifteen minutes until the train was scheduled to leave, he observed and dropped his wrist onto the leather cushion beside himself. Lifting his head he scowled in distaste as he heard a group of students laughing and talking as they entered a compartment several rooms ahead of his.  _Probably another group of idiots out to bother me this year,_ he thought almost arrogantly and pessimistically.

            Percy sighed and sank back into his chair, wondering what he was to do to occupy himself during the trip.  _I could always re-read the first ten chapters in one of my books, _he thought.  _Or perhaps even catch up on my sleep, or even — _

Startled, he was interrupted from his thoughts by the rattling of the door handle.  _I don't believe this, _he mused angrily, _I pick a spot at the back of the train to be let alone, and some bafoon  decides to barge into my privacy! _ With these thoughts, he prepared to engage into a furious tirade with the unfortunate person who had unknowingly tresspassed into Percy's compartment when the perpetrator opened the door and stepped in, her pale grey eyes widening as she saw the inhabitant in the already-occupied compartment.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

            Percy sat there, his frosty gaze fixed downwards on the floor in front of him, trying not to look at the grey-eyed, black haired girl sitting in front of him.  He had, of course, let her in.  What could he do?  He had been expecting to see some young fool—Perhaps even Fred or George.  Whoever he had expected, it certainly wasn't a girl about his age, especially one whom he had never seen before.  

"So..," Percy started, looking up at her, desperate to break the awkward silence between them.  "What year are you in?  I don't believe I've ever seen you at Hogwarts."  She fixed him with her pale grey eyes, hesitating nervously before responding.  "I'm..a fourth year," she started, speaking with a slight accent; English, yes, but she must have hailed from a different region of Britain.  "I transferred from a school a bit further up north from here."  

            "Norkten?" Percy asked curiously.  

            "Why..yes.." She said, blinking, looking a bit surprised.  "Where have you heard of it?" she inquired of him, tilting her head a little ways to the right.

            Percy sat up straight in his chair without consciously realizing it.  "Well, I read the name somewhere in a book and recalled that it was up somewhere in northern Britain.  You mentioned that the school was located a bit further up and the name just came to mind." 

            Looking back up at her face, he was somewhat surprised to see that she looked - impressed?  No..who would be impressed by that?  It wasn't as if a lot of people held reading in high regard, granted that Percy himself was rather fond of reading and, other than his textbooks, read a vast variety of material.  Mysteries, adventures, fantasy – any type of fiction, really.  All but horror stories.  He found most of them dull and too unsophisticated for his tastes.  

            He must have been staring at her while pondering the situation because she raised her eyebrows a fraction of an inch, wearing an inquisitive expression on her face, her eyes sending him a questioning stare.  Percy blinked and felt the color build in his face but it quickly faded as she asked him, "Do you read often?  Norkten isn't a well-known school..not like Beauxbatons or Hogwarts.."  She glanced down a moment as if in recollection of her former academy then looked back up at him.  "What book title was it under?"  

            Percy tilted his head downward a moment, trying to recall the name of the book.  

            He finally shook his head and raised his eyes back up to her.  "I can't remember.. and yes, I do read a lot of books, so I can't remember the name of that particular one.  I do know, however," he added in that know-it-all tone people around him were so used to, "That the book is in the Hogwart's library under – I mean.."  Having realized his tone of voice, he quickly dropped it and cleared his throat.  "If you'd like, I could probably find it for you.  I remember the section it was in." 

            If she took notice of his tone, she showed no sign of it because she flashed a quick smile at him.  "Thank you, I'd like that, that is, if it's not too much trouble for you."  Almost as an afterthought, she asked him, "By the way, I didn't catch your name."  

            "Percy Weasley," he replied, managing a small smile.  

            She returned his gesture, exchanging his polite smile with a friendly grin.  He hadn't really noticed before, but she was wearing all black.  A short-sleeved black sweater-type material, black jeans and a black leather belt with a narrow silver buckle.  Even her socks and her shoes were black, but somehow she didn't look like a modern-day rogue.  She pulled it off, as if she wore black because she liked the color and because she looked good in it - not because she was trying to be rebellious or goth-like.  

            "Kristen…Kris..Mimswell," she volunteered and they both smiled at each other; real smiles, not the fake and empty-shelled gestures.


	3. First Day of School

First Day of School 

_A/N:  Kristen Mimswell belongs to me, thank you very much; any and all other characters you may or may not recognize belong to J.K. Rowlings.  Percy, unfortunately, is included in those characters that are owned by J.K. Rowlings, but let me remind you all - Percy is MINE!  Penelope Clearwater can go to – [CENSOR!] for all I care!  And now, without further ado, the next chapter!  Joy!_

Cracking his neck once to the left then once more to the right, Percy picked up his book bag and, ignoring the other laughing and excited fourth years, made his way out of his dormitory.  "Annoying prats," he muttered under his breath and embarked on his descent down the staircase, footsteps thudding briskly as he made his way down the crimson-carpeted, spiraling staircase. 

            He alighted off the last step and began walking across the common room quickly with his head down, not wishing to attract any attention from his brothers or anyone else for that matter.  

His black robes swishing around his ankles, he stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady and swung it open, much to her disdain.  With a "Good morning, young Percy!", he carefully stepped over the threshold and swung the portrait back, giving the Fat Lady a curt nod in return for her greeting. 

It was still early, but being the Percy we all know and love, he wanted to arrive to his class early so as to make a clean start to his next year.  

            He stopped momentarily just outside the statue of the One-Eyed Witch to pull his schedule out from his bag.  Glancing over it quickly, he was about to place it back when he heard a familiar voice call out to him: "Percy!"  Blinking his icy-colored gaze a couple of times in surprise, he lowered the schedule and looked up in the direction of the voice just in time to see Kristen walking over to him almost shyly, her midnight-colored robes swishing softly even after she stopped a couple of feet in front of him.  

            Percy looked at Kristen for several moments in recollection, his expression full of surprise as he hadn't seen her since the train.  "Kristen..," he smiled.  "Hello..haven't seen you around."  Then, almost as an afterthought, he added quickly, "What house did you get placed in?"  She thought for a split-second, "Ravenclaw," she answered.  Percy nodded.  So hat was why he hadn't seen her around.  Members from different houses rarely ever saw each other; unless, of course, they made a point to. "What  house are you in, Percy?", she asked him, "I haven't see you until just now."  She looked around a while before finally resting her stormy-colored gaze back onto him.  "I don't really know a lot of people here..except you, of course."  

            Percy's cheekbones reddened slightly as her gray eyes met with his pale blue ones and he cleared his throat mildly.  "I'm in Gryffindor," he replied.  "The houses each have different common rooms, so the members in each don't really associate with others very much..," he continued, surprised to find a hint of regret in his voice. 

            "Oh." She replied, lowering her eyes to his hand him, spotting his schedule.  "Do the houses have any classes together?", she inquired, raising her eyes from the schedule and meeting his again.  He nodded a quick affirmation and looked back at his schedule.  "Ravenclaw, you say?" letting his eyes skim over the schedule.  "M'hmm." She responded, watching him as she waited for an answer.  

            Percy put away the schedule and looked back up at Kristen.  "Well, we have double Potions and History together," he said, flashing her a smile grin which she returned.  "We have Potions, first, don't we?" she asked.  He nodded and quickly glanced at his watch, seeing they had a little under ten minutes to get to class.  Looking up, he also noticed that most of the students had come out of their common rooms and were going toward their classes.  Looking back at Kristen he asked, "Shall we go?"  She smiled and nodded once, a slight tinge on her cheeks – probably from the excitement of the first day, Percy reasoned.  

            So the two slung their book bags over their shoulders once more and walked, side by side, down the stairs toward the dungeons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

            Percy sat at his desk in his two-bedroom apartment, in the the second which he used for his office-away-from-office sort of place.  He cracked his knuckles, his eyes behind his thin-framed glasses cast down upon the dark-colored wooden desk.  

            Sighing, he reached up and took off his glasses, setting them down in a corner of his desk silently.  Reaching up with his right hand, he rubbed his right temple, absent-mindedly humming "Moonlight Sonata" and was about an eighth of the way through it before he realized what he was doing and stopped, quickly reaching out and putting his glasses back on. 

            Growling under his breath, he picked up a sleek, silvery-feathered quill and poised it over the parchment in front of him and let it hang there a moment.  

He blinked, still holding the quill and tried to remember what exactly he had been writing.  

Very suddenly, Percy jumped up off of the chair. "Oh, forget it!" he shouted aloud to no one and threw the quill down on top of the parchment, suddenly very aware of the color and pigment of the quill.  He blinked once more.  "Dear lord..," he muttered and squeezed his eyes shut in attempt to block out a mental flash of sparkling grey eyes.  

Percy opened his frosty eyes once more letting them stray over to the quill on his desk.  

The desk was a dark, almost black, wood – oakwood to be precise.  It held a green lamp in the right corner, a stack of papers in the left corner, and various office supplies such as a stapler, ink, quills and parchment strewn neatly around the desk.  He had had the light on, but he turned it off now and, walking over to the window, opened the blinds letting in a wave of moonlight that showered the room it its pale glow.

 "It's been nearly ten years," he informed himself, sitting down once more at the desk.  Then, realizing he had spoken aloud, he licked his lips and lowered his gaze to the quill and parchment in front of him.  _Ten years!  And besides that, you weren't even sure it was her!_, he thought to himself, almost in a scolding manner.  _You catch sight of the girl – woman,_ he corrected himself, _and you fall to pieces!_  He shut his eyes and shook his head, suddenly aware that he had been clenching his fists so hard, his nails were beginning to dig into his flesh.  Opening his eyes, he raised a hand to his glasses and took them off, laying them down on the table once more.

Looking at his palm, he examined the marks on it, glad to see that he hadn't broken skin.  _You weren't even sure it was her, _the thought repeated itself.  But he remembered the contours of her face; remembered the pigment of her eyes.

He was lying to himself by saying he wasn't sure it was her, of course.  Deep down, Percy knew it was her.  One look at those eyes was all he needed.  It had been at the ministry in the lobby.  She was at the counter; most likely applying for a vacant position.  

He leaned back against the plush, olive-green seat, his eyes raised to the fuzzy-looking ceiling above.  He sat there for a while, just how long he wasn't sure.  "Tomorrow, I'll go to the office and make it my business to know what positions are open," he finally said.  Rubbing his palms together, he leaned forward, the back of the chair erecting itself.  "Kris – Kristen..Mimswell."  

Leaning back in the reclining seat, he wondered just how long it had been since he let her name escape from his lips.  

Farther away in the village, the great clock struck midnight, it's rumbling tones drowning out the playing of "Moonlight Sonata" a young woman was playing in a small house a few miles away from the apartment of Percival Weasley.


	4. Detention

Detention 

Disclaimer:  The Weasleys belong to J. K Rowlings, Kristen Mimswell belongs to me and Professor Alectrice does not, as to my knowledge, exist in the Harry Potter sequence – in other words, I created her.

_Now:_

Percy stood up from the toilet, gasping for breath as he reached out and flushed the toilet, wiping his mouth off with his free right hand.  This had been going on for a week now, since that day he ran downstairs.  Because the next day he had a caught a glimpse of her in a crowd, a fleeting crowd, and he had tried, unsuccessfully, going after her.  But she disappeared in a crowd of people going into the Knight Bus, and off..off somewhere into the night.  

            He washed his hands, watching the retch slip off his hand and into the sink, pouring down into the drainage system of the Ministry of Magic building.

            He watched the vomit slip down the drain as so many memories of his childhood had, but he soon turned the water off and retreated out of the bathroom and up the stairs, back into his cold, lonely office, simply remembering and recalling his fourth year.

            A pair of blue eyes shot open and immediately turned to the clock on his dresser.  "……" Percy slipped on his glasses and blinked, getting the red digital numbers in focus.  

            Cursing under his breath, Percy jumped out of bed.  He had ten minutes to get to class.  

            After five minutes of scuffling into his robes and hastily running a brush through his hair, he grabbed his books and took off, rushing toward his class, pushing aside other students whose classes were nearby or who simply didn't care that they were running late and ignoring their cold, callous glares.

            Glancing at his watch, he smiled as he dashed down a red-carpeted spiral staircase.  He'd make it in time.  "No problem," he murmured.  "I'll be in time before the – AAARGH!!," he shouted as he collided against someone and was knocked backwards back onto the staircase, quills and parchment flying everywhere.  To top it all off, there was a small explosion and an unholy smell of what could only be a dung bomb being let off.  

            Rapidly shoving his things back in his bag, he ignored the giggling and laughter of the twins,(For, indeed, it was the Weasley boys, his own brothers, who had set it of.) 

 and more importantly, the unearthly stench. He stood up and was about to run off to class when the bell rang.  He was late.  

He looked up to reprimand his brothers when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a strange, bushy-looking something move.  Stopping in mid-sentence, he turned and stopped dead at the sight he saw:  Mrs. Norris standing next to an extremely gleeful looking Filch who had an amazingly vicious-looking smile on his face.  

            "Well, well, well," Filch said, studying all of them over.  "Seems to me that Professor Snape will have no trouble scraping toad bowels off his tables tonight."  

            "Late for class, causing a mess and hold up in the hallway, and setting off a dung bomb," Filch went on with glee.  _Holdup in the hallway!, _Percy thought, _The corridor was completely deserted!_

"Let's see now,"  Filch looked around at them, "Fred and George Weasley..," he paused to scribble down their names which, by now, he had learned by heart.  

            Percy knew it was no use to argue – Filch would no sooner listen to explanations, alibis, or excuses from students than he would skip around the hallways, passing out sweets.  

            "Percival Weasley..", he felt his stomach flop around in his stomach as if he had just eaten a case of Chocolate Frogs.__

            "And who might you be?" Percy heard Filch inquire and Percy leaned forward just slightly in his chair, catching sight of the person whom he collided with and recognizing a very pale-faced Kristen sitting in her chair.    

            She spoke out in a voice that was obviously stronger than she felt at the time, "Kristen Mimswell."  

            She glanced at him a quick, fleeting moment and raised her cool expression back up to Filch, somehow knowing that an explanation would get her nowhere with this twisted and very-much hated custodian. 

            "New student, eh?" Filch stated rather than asked as he observed her.  "Not a very good way to start a year," he remarked as he wrote her name down, oblivious to the momentary flush in her cheeks.

            Percy observed his brothers, unsurprisingly finding bored, nonchalant expressions on their faces rather than the nervous dread-filled expression he wore behind his cool, unconcerned mask of a face.

            "Weasleys, Mimswell!," Filch barked out to them.  "In addition to scraping frog entrails off of Professor Snape's desks after today's classes, you will all accompany Professor Alectrice Friday night to assist in locating the rogue vampires that have been spotted in the Forbidden Forest."

            At this, the Weasleys all turned a pale, greenish hue, while Kristen, however, showed an apparent spark of interest which she automatically concealed. 

            "The Forbidden Forest hunting vampires!" Fred roared as he walked with George, Percy, and Kristen out of Filch's office and toward the classrooms.  

            "He's really outdone himself this time," George remarked sadly, shaking his head. 

            "I hope you two are happy!," Percy hissed.  "When I tell mother what you two have done – Oh come off it Perce!"  George interrupted, awarded with a menacing glare.  "It was a harmless dung bomb!  Filch didn't even mention sending Mum a letter.."  "Yeah, Perce!" piped up Fred.  "I don't reckon it even crossed his mind when he was shouting about hanging us from his ceiling by chains…"   

            "That'd be better than hunting vampires," George muttered.  "Vampires..  That old git!  I wouldn't be surprised if we all came back pale-faced and blood-thirsty!"  

            At this point, Kristen, who had been keeping very quiet, interrupted their tirade against Filch.  "I doubt that.  Very rarely do vampires change the ones they feed upon."

            The twin's and Percy stopped dead in their tracks and stared at her.

            "..And you would know this how, Kristen..? Percy asked politely after a moment.  

            "Well," she started, looking down at her feet.  "I've always been..interested in that field – vampires, I mean.  And I just happened to recall reading that somewhere."  As she turned to them and finding them all gawking at her, she flushed red, but continued, "I'm actually somewhat looking forward to assisting Professor Alectrice in hunting them." As an afterthought, she added, "That is, if we find them which will depend on the time of night we go searching for them."  Fred and George stared a few more moments at this while Percy looked at Kristen with awe and something like respect in his gaze which she did not return as she was too busy engaging in a staring contest with the ground.

            After a few minutes, Percy broke the stunned silence by saying, "Fred, George, aren't you two late enough for your classes as it is?  Get going."  

            With one more curious glance at Kristen, the twins turned down the corridor and headed off.  

            Turning back to Kristen, he remarked, "Well.. we'd..better get on to class, then."  She nodded once and they both quietly made their way to their first lesson.

            Scraping toad guts off of tables wasn't so bad, Percy mused.  True, it would have been better if Professor Snape hadn't insisted on breathing down his neck the whole time, but it still could have been worse, he reasoned.  How it could have remained to be seen, but one must look on the brighter side of things, or at least pretend to.

            Anyway, wiping from entrails off of tables was a better option than what he was about to do tonight.  

            _Vampires!  In the Forbidden Forest!  What a nightmare_, Percy thought angrily.  _Sending us off to hunt vampires!  Why, we haven't even had the proper training to even think about– _but his thoughts stopped there, interrupted by Fred and George's grim faces appearing in his doorway.

            "Are you….ready, Perce?" asked a very apprehensive Fred.  George, meanwhile, was behind Fred looking as if he had just been very sick a few minutes ago. 

            Percy nodded curtly and went to the closet to collect his cloak.

            Fifteen minutes later, they were all making their way down a dark, cold corridor not unlike those that led down into Professor Snape's potion chambers.

            As their footsteps rang down the freezing hallway, Percy wondered briefly what Professor Alectrice would be like.  He had never seen the woman – or at least, he thought she was a woman.  

            _She must not be very social, _reasoned Percy, _I've never seen her around and someone who spends their day in such an ominous-feeling area can't be too friendly.  _

They reached the end of the corridor and found themselves in a surprisingly regular-looking classroom, much like the ones upstairs.  

            He turned out to be right.  Professor Alectrice was a female and a rather young-looking one also.  Early thirties, he would guess.  Though she was sitting at her extraordinarily tidy desk, he could tell she was of about medium height.  Her face wore an expression of constant awareness and it had a cool, calming expression that he would guess she often wore.  She had dark brown, almost black, hair that was cut a little past her shoulders and pulled back into a low ponytail.  She looked fairly normal except for one strange trait: Her eyes.  Golden eyes.  

            In front of her was Kristen, who seemed to be having a very appealing conversation with her as Kristen seemed to be gesturing with her hands frequently and possessing a very animated tone to her voice.  

            Professor Alectrice nodded to an inaudible question Percy couldn't hear and stood up, walking over to the Weasley boys, Kristen not far behind her.  

            "So," She said in a cheerful, light-hearted tone.  "Are you boys ready to go on a small escapade tonight?", she inquired with a smile and show of bright white teeth.  

            Fred didn't answer and all that came out of Percy and George's mouths were small squeaks.


	5. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

A/N:  Hope you all enjoyed my last chapter!  As always, I'm always glad for reviewers.  I really appreciate knowing that people take the time to write a review for my story.  A little complaint…I've noticed people are fond of writing slash about Percy, but I just don't see that happening.  Give him more credit, no offense to anyone.  Honestly..  Hmm..Forbidden Forest takes on a whole new meaning here.  

Disclaimer:  The Weasleys and the Forbidden Forest belong to J.K. Rowlings, Professor Alectrice and Kristen Mimswell belong to me. 

            They all trudged through the Forbidden Forest, Professor Alectrice walking cautiously in the lead, Percy and Kristen following close behind and Fred and George Weasley bringing up the rear.  

            Professor Alectrice seemed to be very calm and relaxed while Kristen's excitement seemed to have died out.  

            "No chance we'll find any signs of vampires tonight," She commented gloomily to a rather relieved Percy.

            "Why would that be?" He asked, his glacier eyes darting around nervously as they trudged on, leaves crunching softly beneath their feet over the hushed whisperings from the twins who had moved up, each walking on either side of the professor. 

            "Well," she started with a rather disappointed sigh.  "The moon is rather bright tonight and they prefer to hunt in darkness."  At this, Percy looked up abruptly, checking for any clouds.  Kristen pretended not to notice and went on.  "Also, being Friday, a lot of people are out, even in the forest, and they prefer hunting down single passerby's and not small groups of people."  

            "I see," started Percy who was looking calm now, beginning to enjoy the scenery in the forest now that his mind wasn't on being jumped from behind and having a set of fangs sliding down his throat.  

            Lowering his voice, he added, "Just between you and me, I'm glad.  I don't fancy having to go running amok in this forest, trying to stake a vampire before it gets me."  

            She nodded in acknowledgement rather than accordance and turned her gaze forward just in time to stop herself before she ran into Professor Alectrice who was examining an ash tree.  

            "Interesting," she commented, her eerie golden eyes scanning the tree up and down, limb to limb. 

            Percy examined the tree also, but didn't find anything remotely interesting about it.

            "Students," she announced, getting everyone's attention.  "Can any of you tell me what is wrong with this particular tree?" she asked, turning from the tree, though pointing at it with her wand.

            Unsurprisingly, it was Kristen who raised her hand.  

            Raising her eyebrows in anticipation, the professor nodded toward Kristen.  

            "Well, professor," Kristen began.  "This is an ash tree, one of the most commonly used in creating stakes for hunting vampires."  Nodding once toward the tree, she went on.  "This tree appears to have many of its limbs removed," She said, circling the tree.  "Many of its smaller, lower branches have been removed, and it seems as if the thicker, higher branches have remained."  At this point, she stopped walking as she was back on the side of the tree where the rest of the group was. 

            "Correct, Ms. Mimswell," Professor Alectrice said, awarding Kristen with a small smile.  "As you would notice, it is not likely that the limbs were simply broken, you can see the smooth formation where the limb actually was," she said, stepping forward caressing a part of the tree with the palm of her hand.  "This shows that whatever did this knew exactly what they were doing and had a particular reason for doing so, otherwise, would not have been so careful when doing so.  

            Fred's eyes widened at this and apparently, Professor Alectrice noticed because she added, "But not to worry, boys, we probably won't  be finding any creatures tonight."  Everyone except Kristen seemed quite relieved at the news.  

            "However," she went on, "I'd like each of you to split up into pairs and go on trying to find a larger group of tree such as," nodding toward the ash, "this one in hopes that we can get somewhat of an idea where the fiends reside." 

            "If you get lost, simply send up blue sparks into the air, and I will come shortly.  If you get into trouble, shoot up red sparks."

At this, the twins took off in one direction, Professor Alectrice with them, seeing as she obviously thought Kristen could handle herself, and Percy was left with Kristen, who immediately went the opposite direction of Professor Alectrice, Percy's disdain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

            They had been walking for half an hour now, discussing a wide variety of topics, at first about Kristen's interest in vampires, then about the books she had read on them, then about books in general, something Percy knew much about, a dark cloud gradually covering up most of the moon leaving them a small sliver of light to go on by.

            "I don't know, I think that the author's use of connotation and names describe and explain the story more than the metaphors they use," Percy argued.

            "You think so?" started Kristen.  "I'm not so sure about that..  I think it's more along the lines of the plot and the personality of the character that reveals the true conflict going on.  Take Dancing with Werewolves, for example..."

            They walked on, going on like this, arguing over the material in books and what the authors mean by it when a rustling behind them stopped their conversation abruptly.

            Both reeling around toward the cause of the noise, they backed up slowly, each one's steps crackling in the dry autumn leaves.  

            Backing up against what felt like cherry oak wood, they turned to each other, a pair of icy blue eyes looking into stormy grey ones.  

            They pressed up closer together unconsciously, each one staring into the bushes where the rustling noise came from, because behind the cool, calm Weasley and the brave, vampire-know-it-all, they were really quite scared being alone in a forest, with vampires lurking about.

            After a few moments, Percy whispered to Kristen, "Do you think we should send up red sparks?"  

            Kristen shook her head no, mouthing back to him, "No..nothing happened.  We shouldn't panic the professor and your brothers..  We don't want to cause a false alarm or – " At that moment, the tree behind them moved and they both wheeled around, finding themselves face to face not with a tree, but with a very tall, very pale-faced something, who glared at them from blood-shot eyes, mouth open in a hideous sneer revealing a set of very sharp-looking, very formidable looking white teeth.  It had stringy black hair and was wearing very ratty, torn dark-colored clothing and it now seemed to be eying Kristen, taking its time, seeming to be in no hurry as if it knew that in the end, it would get what it wanted.

            Percy stepped back in reflex, tripping over an outstretched tree root and fell back into the leaves, making an attempt to scramble up to his feet.  Kristen, meanwhile, seemed frozen, entranced by the creatures eyes, simply staring into them, her face oddly slack as the creature reached out, taking her by the hand, a shiver wracking through Kristen's body, Percy now nowhere in sight. 

            Now Kristen wasn't the type to scare easily, indeed, she considered herself to be rather brave, but at that moment, she was scared, but not scared enough to stay in place.  She blinked once, recovering herself and tore her hand out from the creature's grasp and started to propel herself through the leaves.        

            The vampire, naturally, (or rather, unnaturally) wasn't too happy with this and he was surprised as most of his victims hadn't reacted like this.  Despite the fact that Kristen had had a head start, he tore off after her, his animal-like instincts urging him on as he ran after his prey.

            She didn't get very far.  The moon had now been completely covered by clouds, and she wasn't familiar with the forest. 

            She tripped over a rock and fell, the creature easily catching up with her and pulling her up by the shoulders.  She struggled for a split second, but soon went limp, mesmorized by the vampire's gaze, the creature brushing aside her hair and lowering his face to his neck.

            The events that happened later on went by rather quickly.  

            A wild flurry of red sparks went sailing into the air and a shrill whistling noise was heard soaring through the air, stopping with a sickening "thunk!" as an oak wood stick impaled the vampire which let out a hiss and fell into ashes onto the floor, Kristen blinking and letting out a scream at the events that happened, Percy standing about ten feet behind where the vampire was, breathing raggedly, sweat pouring down his forehead, arm still outstretched for he, indeed, had been the one who had thrown the stake. 

            "K-Kristen?!", Percy asked, racing toward her side, where she stood pale and trembling from the events that just happened.  "Kristen!" Percy took her by the shoulders and shook her a little, his eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses wide with concern,  licking his lips nervously.  

            Kristen blinked upon being shaken and looked at Percy as if acknowledging him for the first time.  

            "Oh, God…are you alright? Did it..?" Percy drifted off. 

            She shook her head, swallowing hard.  "No..it didn't..no…," she remained quiet for a split second then quite suddenly, threw her arms around Percy's neck, her arms vice-tight on him, her head simply buried in his shoulder, not sobbing, simply remaining in that position as if in shock.

            Not knowing what else to do, Percy patted her on the back in bewilderment, obviously still shaken from the occurrence.  

            After a few moments, she stepped back from him apologizing and blinked a few times.  Feeling rather embarrassed at seeing her like this, Percy pulled out his wand and shot reddish sparks into the air.  

            After a few minutes of waiting around for Professor Alectrice, Kristen looked up at Percy.  "..Thank you," she said simply.  

            Percy looked at her, a few strands of bright red hair in his eyes and managed a weak smile.  "Don't mention it," he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her, and perhaps also to calm himself  and together, the two students waited for their professor in silent companionship.


	6. Lying at the Ministry

Lying at the Ministry

_A/N: As always, a big thank you goes out to all my reviewers!  Thank you!  You're really appreciated and it's all of you that keep me motivated.  To those of you that don't review, ah, well…I'm not in the mood to go on in a furious tirade about it.  I just saw _Harry Potter.  _Poor Percy..  Hope you enjoy the next chapter!  I know it's kind of short, but I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible._

            Mr. Crouch stood in front of the room where a meeting was being held and went on about how the wizarding economy had dropped two points and about how the ministry should be focusing on that instead of faulty wands.  Percy merely nodded and commented in all the right places, shook his head in unison with the rest of the room in all the correct moments, his mind somewhere else entirely.  

After they were all assigned an extra project, they all left the meeting, returning to their offices.  

            All, that is, except for Percy Weasley, who picked up his folder and walked out of the heavily carpeted room and into the corridor, heading for the front desk. 

.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            After the Forbidden Forest incident, Professor Alectrice had insisted that they both go up to the infirmary to see Madam Pomfrey, who immediately blew the whole thing out of proportion.

            "You could have DIED!  You could have been BITTEN!  Who knows what could have happened!?" she raged as she fussed over them, rapidly moving around her infirmary getting a potion for both of them.  

            Percy and Kristen, both still very pale-faced from what went on in the forest looked down at their glasses full of a violet sort of liquid that Madam Pomfrey had insisted they drink.  

            "But..we told you, we didn't get bitten," protested Kristen in a rather small voice.  Madam Pomfrey, however, would have none of it.  

            "You'll do as you're told and drink it," she said sharply and, not wanting to argue, both Percy and Kristen tilted their heads back and drank that foul-smelling potion.  

            Lowering their glasses, Percy tried to keep back a gag and gritted his teeth.  It tasted as a sort of cross between garlic and gave him the impression that it contained a bit of tree bark in it. 

            Madam Pomfrey, however, didn't notice as she went rambling on about the sort of detentions the professors and caretaker were giving out these days.  

            "I'm going downstairs to see Professor Snape about an ingredient I'm running low on.  Now, you two, _stay here! _ I'll be right back!" Madam Pomfrey screeched on as she disappeared down the corridor.           

            Whether from the effects of the potion, or perhaps just from the revolting taste of it, both Percy and Kristen had the color back in their faces and were feeling more or less like their usual selves again, if you didn't include the nauseous feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

            Perhaps it was a side-effect of the potion, or perhaps it was just that in each other's presence, that they felt more adventurous that after checking for Madam Pomfrey, Kris and Percy grinned at each other and, without a word, sprinted out of the infirmary and down the school's empty hallways.   

            The next day, the two were able to be seen walking everywhere together.  Two people couldn't go through being hunted down by a vampire – and surviving by killing it – together and not grow to be best friends, and that's exactly what happened between them.  The rest of the semester went on normally (Or as normally as it can possibly be at Hogwarts) until Christmas came upon them.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Arriving at the front desk after what seemed like hours of climbing down stairs, Percy dropped his folder on the counter and waited for the clerk to acknowledge him. 

            He stood there watching the clerk from behind his glasses, the clerk scribbling away at some piece of parchment that Percy could not see the name of. 

            Shifting his weight from one foot to another, Percy looked around the lobby of the building, trying to kill some time.  

            It was a fairly large lobby, a maroon couch on Percy's right, over a darkly shaded navy blue carpet.  The carpet went throughout the entire office, and on the end of the other side of the room, an enchanted plant of some sort that Percy assumed was not native to Britian as he didn't recognize it.  Just in front of the glass doors, Percy could just make out a young woman and one of the office officials, and behind them there were three posts, each marked with a different letter, either "A", "B", or "C".  They used these for apparating points.  A little way off, there was a sort of parking lot except, being in a wizarding city, they were used for brooms rather than for cars. 

            A soft clearing of the throat made Percy turn around to face the front desk again.  The clerk flashed him a charming smile, "Yes?", she asked.  

            At once, Percy picked up his professional manner and tone of voice and curtly asked her, "Yes, I would like to know if anyone applied for a vacant position recently?" he asked, rather than stated.  

            "Well," the clerk, began, sinking back into her chair and reaching out, quickly locating a file.  After skipping through it a few moments, she replied, "We had one person apply for a job as a reporter two days ago, one for a personal secretary about a week and a half ago, a job at Gringotts yesterday, a job in the Control and Extermination of Vampiric Creatures a week ago – "  

            "Wait!!" Percy suddenly shouted, causing the people at the doorway to turn around.  Percy, though oblivious to this, hushed his voice and pressed against the matter further.  "What was the name of the person who applied," he asked, unable to hide a tremor of anxiety in his voice.

            "I'm sorry," said the clerk, in a cold, automatic tone of voice rather much like the ones muggle telemarketers use.  "That's classified information."  "You don't understand," Percy growled, leaning further up against the counter, his icy-blue eyes piercing into the clerk's now wide, dark brown ones.  "It's for person-" he paused, an inspiration suddenly flooding his mind.

            Clearing his throat, Percy stood up straight, fished in his pocket and drew out his identification card, showing it to the clerk.  "Confidential Ministry business," he lied, the familiar matter-of-fact tone back in his voice.  "We are searching for a certain young lady, applied for a job here recently and we would like to find her," he continued, placing the I.D. back in his pocket.

            The clerk blinked a couple of times, then looked down at the file as if thinking the matter over.

            Percy tried hard not to blink and look nervous, as he didn't know if this was going to work and was completely aware of how much trouble he could get into for doing something like this.

            Finally, the clerk looked up.  "..Her name's Mimswell," pausing, she looked over Percy's shoulder, at the two chatting in front of the doorway.  

            "Oh…well, she's over there," she sat back into her chair.  "I suppose you'd want to talk to her yourself."

            But Kristen, (For, indeed, it was her at the door) had already nodded good-bye to the ministry official and was turning, heading out the door.

            Percy pushed himself off the counter and dashed afterward, startling the official whom Percy narrowly missed as he rushed out the door. 

            Catching up to her a few yards from the entrance to the building, he stopped and called out, "Excuse me!"

            The woman turned around, her raven-colored hair falling back into place over her deep plum sweater, a flicker of recognization mirrored in her pale grey eyes as she surveyed her caller.

            Percy reached up, brushing a vivid strand of hair out of his face.  

            "Hello, Kristen," he said, in a calm, neutral tone of voice.


	7. A Moment By the Lake

A Moment by the Lake

A/N:  Come on, people!  I know more than two people have read my last chapter!!  If I don't see some more reviews, I'm going to assume people have lost interest and discontinue this story. So if you want to see more of this, I'd better start seeing reviews!  I don't care if you flame it, at least give a constructive flame!  …Thank you.

            A small tawny owl flew into the Great Hall at about dinnertime, despite the fact that most arrived in the morning, and dropped a letter onto his owner's lap before settling down next to a piece of chocolate pie, looking at it hungrily.

            Percy looked over at the letter on Kristen's lap, then up at Kristen.  "From your parents again?"

            She nodded.  "Yes…  They've been sending me a lot of letters from home lately," she commented, feeding her owl a piece of cake.  "Kip just hasn't been the same anymore, have you Kip?" she asked affectionately, giving her owl a small pat on the head.  It blinked once and hooted softly, hopping around the dishes.

            "Oh…I see," Percy responded just before stuffing a piece of apple pie into his mouth.  Chewing on it thoughtfully, he added, "Do they want anything or do they just miss you?"  
            "I don't know," she replied, looking thoughtful.  "I guess they just miss me," she shrugged.  

            "It makes sense," Percy said, serving himself another piece of apple pie.  "I mean, Christmas is getting closer and I'm sure they're just thinking of you more often than usual."

            "Yeah…  I guess so," she remarked, but she didn't seem satisfied.  At this point, Kip  took flight again suddenly, which seemed to shake Kristen out from her thoughts. 

            "Hey!" she said, smiling cheerfully.  "The Christmas dance is coming up, isn't it?"

            As if recalling something, Percy put down his fork and looked at Kristen.  "Yeah, I meant to ask you about that."  He cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward.  "You think maybe you could go with – "

            But Percy didn't finish his question because at that point, Penelope Clearwater walked up to him.

            "Hello, Percy!" she grinned at him, regarding a rather surprised-looking Kristen as if she wasn't there.  

            "Er…"  Percy blinked.  "Hello there, Penelope."  

            "How have you been, Percy?" she asked, sitting herself down in the small space between Percy and Kristen, forcing poor Kris to the side.  She looked at Penelope in unflattering, stunned silence.

            Penelope tossed her curls over her shoulder, nearly swatting Kris on the face with them.  She flashed a prissy smile at Percy who was staring at her from behind his glasses, a blank, disbelieving expression on his face. 

            "Say, the dance is only a few weeks away, isn't it?" started Penelope, a false-offhanded tone to her voice which cut through the air, breaking the awkward silence hovering around them.

            "Well..yes, it is..I think it's the twenty-first – "

            "Wonderful!" Penelope interrupted, flashing him another pearly-white smile.  "I just haven't been able to find anyone to go with," she droned on.  "How about you…?" she asked Percy carefully.

            "Erm.."  Percy tried to glance at Kristen, but she was blocked from view by Penelope's mountain of curls.

            "Well, I was about to ask – "

            "Why, that's perfect!" interrupted Penelope yet again.  "You haven't got anyone and I haven't, so we can just go together." 

            Percy just stared at her with his mouth partly open as if to say something, but finding himself at a loss for words.

            Kristen, meanwhile, was glaring daggers at Penelope behind her back, her hands clenched, down out of sight. 

            "W..well, I don't think…" Percy managed to sputter out, looking around as if somewhere, he'd find a way out of this rather awkward predicament.  

            Kris, luckily, chose to stand up at this point and let herself be heard.  "Excuse me…Penelope, is it?"  

            As if suddenly noticing Kristen for the first time, Penelope whirled around, finding herself face to face with an apparently cool, calm, and collected Kristen Mimswell.  

            If she noticed that Kristen was about to lose her temper, she made no sign of it.  "Well, hello there," Penelope said cheerfully, extending her hand, which Kristen didn't take.

            "I'm afraid Percy can't go with you," stated Kris slowly, giving Percy a swift glance which somehow told him to keep his mouth shut.

            Penelope raised her eyebrows.  "And why is that?" she asked, slowly getting to her feet so that she was eye-level with Kristen.

            Percy remained seated, wondering just what Kris was going to say, but keeping his mouth shut all the same.  He watched Kristen, seeing as how Penelope had moved so that she could now be seen.  He glanced her over, her stance, her gaze, her tone of voice all seeming to be screaming: "WARNING!!".

            "Because…" Kristen continued, fixing her grey eyes into Penelope's.  "He's going with me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            After dinner, Percy was walking a very amused looking Kristen up to her common room in silence, both reliving the last few moments they had spent with Penelope in the Great Hall.

            They stopped at a picture showing a lush lake, surrounded by a forest inhabiting common woodland creatures which would often come out to take a drink of the lake water.

            Kris stopped and turned to Percy.  "Goodnight, Perce," she said simply, giving him a friendly smile good-night.

            He nodded back to her.  "Goodnight." He started to turn and walk away, but stopped mid-turn and faced her again, a mischievous look in his eyes.  "By the way…" he began with a small smirk.  He leaned against the wall by the portrait nonchalantly, Kristen a couple of feet in front of him.  "I don't recall ever saying that I'd attend the dance with you."  He raised an eyebrow teasingly, "Now where would you get an idea like that?"

            She regarded him a moment then grinned, taking a step forward so she was looking him right in the eyes, warm grey meeting soft, pale blue.  "Would you rather go with Penelope Clearwater, then?  I'm sure I could find someone else to grace me with his presence at the ball, Mr. Weasley." 

            He laughed softly and shook his head.  "No, no…  I'd gladly be your escort, Ms. Mimswell." He got off the wall and bowed a little, mockingly, smiling as he righted himself up again.

            Kristen grinned and shook her head.  "You really are something, you know that?"  

            Percy shrugged, still wearing a smile, which seemed to fade slightly as they both continued standing there in the hall, watching each other.  

            Percy looked around, suddenly noticing how quiet everything was if you didn't include sound of the lake in the picture rippling softly.  He then turned his gaze back to Kristen, meeting her eyes which were still fixed upon him.  He suddenly was aware of how close they actually were.

            She glanced down at the floor a moment, then looked back up, meeting his eyes again.  "I'd better get going," she muttered softly, the distance between them seeming to close even though they weren't consciously aware of it.

            "Yeah…that'd be a good idea," Percy whispered quietly, unaware of Kristen's hands on his shoulders or his hand on her neck, gently drawing her closer to him.  They both shut their eyes, the distance between closing slowly.

            The bell rang just then and they each drew, nearly leaped, back quickly.  

"I have to go," said Percy suddenly and Kristen nodded, each knowing that was the bell to signal light's out.  

            Percy quickly, but silently, made his way up to the Gryffindor common room while Kristen muttered the password and slipped quietly into a hole that suddenly appeared by the portrait.  


End file.
